Brad Pitt claims the days of earning multi-million pay cheques for movie roles have "died".

The A-list actor earned US$25 million (NZ$30.5 million) last year according to Forbes. He says the days of Hollywood stars earning multi-million dollar salaries are over and that he has to budget just like everyone else.

"You take the roles for the roles," Pitt explained to British news channel the BBC. "Yeah, that thing [earning big amounts] died and you've just got to balance economics like everyone does."

The 48-year-old believes the change is actually a good thing. The Moneyball actor said although times are tougher for the movie industry, the bonus is that it allows for smaller independent films to gain more recognition.

"A lot of the studios have been challenged because of the economic downturn as well so they've been betting on bigger, more tent pole kinds of things," Pitt continued. "At the same time that opens up a vacuum for really interesting new filmmakers to come in."

The father-of-six and his fiancée actress Angelina Jolie are currently living in the UK while they fulfil their filming commitments. The money conscious couple have been watching the pennies while staying in the country and shopping at cut price clothing store H&M. Staff at a branch of the chain were asked to close their store last week so Angelina could shop exclusively, where she apparently picked up some underwear designed by soccer star David Beckham.

"Ange had the shop to herself," a source told British newspaper The Sun. "She bought loads of stuff, including some of David's pants."